South Africa wants nuclear contracts to stay at home

JOHANNESBURG, April 23 (Reuters) - South Africa wants to see its firms eventually being awarded the bulk of the contracts in its $50 billion plan to build six nuclear plants to power Africa's biggest economy, the head of its electric utility said on Monday.

Firms from France, the United States, Japan, South Korea, China and Russia have been lining up for years for a chance to win the contract, one of the biggest in the world for nuclear power.

Eskom chief executive Brian Dames said while the first of the nuclear power units might only secure 35 percent localised content, the country wants to see that rise to about 70 percent by the time the final plants are built.